Additional lymph node radiation reduces bc recurrence for some

besa

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-07-additional-b...

"Currently, most women with breast cancer are treated with breast-conserving surgery followed by radiation to the whole breast. An important unanswered question was whether the addition of regional nodal irradiation to the usual radiation of the breast would improve outcomes.....

"The study involved women with axillary node-positive (cancer in the lymph glandsunder the arm) or high-risk node-negative breast cancer (no cancer in under arm nodes, but cancer with bad prognostic features)."

.........."This study is important because it shows that additional radiation to the surrounding lymph nodes provides added benefit to women, particularly those with involvement of the lymph nodes in the axilla," said Whelan.

"Additional radiation to the surrounding lymph nodes reduced the risk of subsequent recurrence of breast cancer both locally, such as under the arm, and at sites distant from the breast, such as the bone, liver and lung. The treatment did not increase survival, but follow-up is still relatively early." "

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1415340...

From: New England Journal of Medicine, July 23, 2015 | T.J. Whelan et. al.

Regional Nodal Irradiation in Early-Stage Breast Cancer

Nancy2581

good to know thanks!!!! I had radiation to my lymph nodes as well as whole breast.

Nancy